Inflation in India

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (May 2024)

Inflation rate in India was 4.83% as of April 2024, as per the Indian Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. This represents a modest reduction from the previous figure of 5.69% for December 2023. ^[1] CPI for the months of January, February and March 2024 are 5.10, 5.09 and 4.85 respectively. Inflation rates in India are usually quoted as changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), for all commodities.

Many developing countries use changes in the consumer price index (CPI) as their central measure of inflation. In India, CPI (combined) is declared as the new standard for measuring inflation (April 2014).^[2] CPI numbers are typically measured monthly, and with a significant lag, making them unsuitable for policy use. India uses changes in the CPI to measure its rate of inflation.

The WPI measures the price of a representative basket of wholesale goods. In India, this basket is composed of three groups: Primary Articles (22.62% of total weight), Fuel and Power (13.15%) and Manufactured Products (64.23%). Food Articles from the Primary Articles Group account for 15.26% of the total weight. The most important components of the Manufactured Products Group are, Food products (19.12%); Chemicals and Chemical products (12%); Basic Metals, Alloys and Metal Products (10.8%); Machinery and Machine Tools (8.9%); Textiles (7.3%) and Transport, Equipment and Parts (5.2%).

WPI numbers were typically measured weekly by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This makes it more timely than the lagging and infrequent CPI statistic. However, since 2009 it has been measured monthly instead of weekly.